SYLVA - Five undeveloped home sites in the stunning Hi-Mountain subdivision in Jackson County have leapt so far out of price range, they are now priceless.

That’s because the 21-acre property, known as Woodfin Creek Headwaters, is off the real estate market forever. The land donated by the developer to the nonprofit Conservation Trust for North Carolina will remain in permanent protection in the view from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The land abuts a 25-acre property owned by CTNC hugging the parkway at Milepost 447. CTNC will donate both properties to the National Park Service to expand the parkway’s boundaries, said Rusty Painter, CTNC’s land protection director.

“This property has extremely high conservation value. It lies within a state-designated Natural Heritage Area, contains pockets of spruce-fir forest that will preserve the ecological diversity of the region, and is in close proximity to the Mountains-to-Sea Trail,” Painter said.

The property conserves a portion of land at the headwaters of Woodfin Creek, upstream of Woodfin Falls in the Little Tennessee River basin.

The land, which can be seen from the Mount Lynn Lowry Overlook at Milepost 445 near the southern end of the parkway, has no public access yet, but might one day offer more opportunities for hiking trails, Painter said.

It was donated to CTNC by John J. Scelfo, a Florida resident who with his business partner, George Escaravage, owns a 182-acre development in Asheville.

“The land seemed so appropriate for conservation purposes that the initial intention of developing or selling to a developer quickly changed,” said Scelfo.

Beyond its scenic and recreational benefits, the newly protected Woodfin Creek Headwaters, which ranges in elevation range from 4,840 to 5,060 feet, is the kind of mountain habitat needed to enhance the landscape’s resilience to climate change - the wild extremes in temperatures and natural occurrences such as storms, floods and drought, due to an ever-warming planet.

“Any time you can protect large chunks of land, you provide a haven for species that need cooler climate,” Painter said. “They will continue to move upward and northward to cooler areas. The Blue Ridge Parkway provides for both latitude and elevation change. It has a tremendous benefit for climate change mitigation.”

The property has the potential to support significant numbers of rare plant and animal species, and will eventually become part of the complex network of conservation land assembled around Waterrock Knob establishing a 5,000-acre recreation area.

The Conservation Fund and the National Park Service held an event Tuesday Aug. 23, 2016 to ...more

The Conservation Fund and the National Park Service held an event Tuesday Aug. 23, 2016 to commemorate the National Park Service's centennial and celebrate the protection of lands surrounding Waterrock Knob, the scenic destination at milepost 451.2 of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Citizen Times photo

In August 2016, the historic Waterrock Knob conservation deal was completed. It took decades of collaboration among the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Conservation Fund, the Conservation Trust for North Carolina, the Nature Conservancy, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, and private landowners to secure the 5,300 acres worth some $16 million.

The federal Land and Water Conservation Fund provided $2.6 million, which helped to leverage $14 million in private donations.

It is the largest such land transaction on the parkway in 60 years.

The CTNC is always working with landowners to acquire more land along the parkway for conservation and owns 10 properties awaiting donation to the Park Service totaling 392 acres, including the two latest acquisitions. The collective appraised value is more than $4.5 million, Painter said.

Waterrock Knob open house

The public is invited to share their ideas for the parkway’s newest riches as the Waterrock Knob recreation area and Plott Balsam region take on a new future.

The open house is hosted by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the National Park Service, and many local, state and federal land managers, Jan. 25, at the Folkmoot Friendship Center in Waynesville.

It will be an opportunity for mountain residents to share their ideas for future stewardship of this area’s natural and cultural resources and its role in the broader landscape. Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Sylva, and Cherokee are among the neighboring communities.

The open house on Jan. 25 will also allow the public to comment on the National Park Service proposal to manage NPS owned lands at Waterrock Knob as part of a larger landscape collaborative focusing on shared management goals across the region.

A recent report by the Outdoor Industry Association shows that outdoor recreation in North Carolina has a $28 billion impact on the economy.

Karen Chavez/kchavez@citizen-times.com

The Waterrock Knob region is one of the highest points along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and is one of the most rare and biodiverse landscapes in the Eastern United States. Its summit at the visitor center at Milepost 451 is 6,292 feet, where elk, rare salamanders, flying squirrels, and slowly disappearing high elevation spruce-fir forests all inhabit this landscape also known as the Plott Balsams.

The area is also home to rich Cherokee and Appalachian cultural history.

The attendees’ feedback at the open house will help inform a collaborative visioning effort for the area that involves the NPS, Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, neighboring communities, land trusts, nonprofits and stakeholders.

The meeting and overall planning process are made possible by grants from the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership and the Pigeon River Fund at The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.